


In The Fish Tank

by kathkin



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, only slightly more violence than canon, space dorks in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4640280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie and Zoe cross the most powerful man in Space Colony Galene and get treated to his favourite way of dealing with people who vex him: his pet 'fish'. Or, the one where Zoe punches a shark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Fish Tank

“Och, Zoe, we’ll be fine,” said Zoe in a poor imitation of Jamie’s accent.

“Shut up.”

“I do this sort of thing _alll_ the time. We’ll just nip in, get the Doctor, and nip out. What could go wrong?”

“I _do_ do this sort of thing all the time,” Jamie insisted. “And stop talkin’ like that!”

“Do you do _this_ sort of thing all the time, too?” Zoe waggled her cuffed hands at him.

“Mibbe,” said Jamie hotly. He looked like he was about to say something else – probably something stupid, so it was just as he was interrupted by the doors ahead of them swishing open. A stern-faced guard stepped out.

“Mister Schurker will see you now,” he said in heavily accented tones.

Jamie ducked his head to whisper to her as they were hustled through the doorway. “We’ll be fine. Let me do the talking.”

“No, I will not!” Zoe retorted. Let him do the talking. Really. Of all the terrible ideas.

Mister Schurker’s inner sanctum was a lot plainer than she’d expected. She’d expected something with a little splendour to it, but it was much the same as the rest of Colony Galene: sparse, utilitarian, what furniture there was white and made of curving lines. There was a bank of twinkling computers on one wall, robust, the kind of machinery designed to survive space travel. The only concessions to his eminent wealth were a decanter of golden liquid on the smooth white table and a curious round hatch in the centre of the floor. 

The man himself, though, cut an imposing figure. He was draped across a white s-shaped chair, standing out like an evening shadow in his dark uniform. He smiled warmly at Jamie and Zoe as they were led in, his eyes twinkling devilishly above his neat black beard.

Zoe had had a notion she might be able to turn the situation to their advantage – after all, wasn’t that what the Doctor would do? Get him talking, keep him talking till he told them something about what was going on in his genetics laboratories or what he’d done with all the vanished colonists, or at least where he’d put the Doctor. But now that she was face to face with him, she realised it might perhaps be harder than it looked.

“The intruders, sir,” said the burly guard.

“I can see that for myself,” said Mister Schurker. His voice carried the barest hint of an accent. He gave Jamie and Zoe a scrutinising look. Beside her, Jamie pulled himself up to his full height, puffing up like an angry cat. Zoe, conversely, hunched down, trying to look timid, vulnerable, harmless. “You are with the man who calls himself the Doctor, yes?”

Jamie and Zoe exchanged a look, a brief and silent battle of wills. “Aye. We’re with the Doctor.”

“I am disappointed. I expected better from you. What do you mean by breaking into my facility?”

“We –”

“We were looking for the Doctor,” Zoe leapt in. “When he didn’t come back – we were told you’d captured him.”

“Ah, yes, this man who calls himself a Doctor,” said Schurker. “What is his real name?”

Jamie shrugged. “We don’t know,” said Zoe.

Schurker paced towards her, his twinkling eyes turning icy. “You’d do well to answer my questions.” He loomed over her, taller than he had any right to be, smelling of alcohol and something cold and chemical. Zoe’s breath caught with sudden fear.

“She really doesnae ken,” Jamie was saying, twisting helplessly in the guard’s grip. “He doesnae tell us anything.”

“Nothing at all?” Schurker strode towards Jamie. “His plans? What he means by crossing me? Nothing?”

Jamie shrugged. “What’ve you done with him?”

Schurker turned upon his heel and paced away from them, boots clicking on the polished white floor. “I suppose there is no harm in telling you, since you are to be dead soon.” Jamie and Zoe exchanged an anxious glance. “He was in my custody, but I’m afraid you just missed him.”

Zoe closed her eyes, flooded with dismay. She heard Jamie said, “What’d you mean, missed him?”

“I mean he is escaped,” said Schurker.

Zoe took a breath, and turned to glare at Jamie. _Escaped_ , she mouthed. Jamie mouthed back some very bad words.

“Enough of this. If you will not answer my questions, you’re no use to me.” Schurker motioned to the burly guard. “Put them in the fish tank.”

“Fish tank?” said Jamie. “What’d you mean, fish tank –”

The guards were opening up the hatch in the floor, lifting aside the cover to reveal a round hole that opened into pitch darkness, a circle of black upon the white floor.

“The girl first.” Schurker waved a hand vaguely at Zoe.

The guard’s arms closed around her waist. He tugged her back so sharply that it knocked the breath from her. She sucked in air and yelled, kicking and squirming and protesting, but it was no good. The guard’s arms were hard as granite. She might as well have been trying to fight a rock face.

“You let her go!” Jamie was crying. “Let go of her!” 

As the guard unclasped her wrists, Zoe saw him struggle, surging forward, almost breaking free – only to be dragged back. There was a look of helpless terror in his eyes and she knew it must be reflected in her own.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears. The guard lifted Zoe bodily off the ground, and as she squealed and kicked dropped her like so much dead weight into the hole.

She screamed; but she was falling for only moments. She hit black water and went under, her mouth and throat filling up with water. For a few horrible seconds she was trapped, heavy and alone under the surface, unable to get her bearings. Then she bobbed upwards, came up and breathed.

She heard Jamie’s voice, raised, and a clattering of footsteps – and he tumbled down, hitting the water with a sharp splash and vanishing. Zoe watched, teeth chattering, as he surfaced, gasping for breath. She looked around herself.

They were in a broad well, the walls slick, slimy stone, the bottom invisible beneath the dark water – too far down for her to reach. Too far for Jamie, by the way he was moving. She turned her head to the circle of light above them. It looked so far away. “Let us out!” she cried. “You can’t do this!”

“Aye, let us up!” Jamie shouted. “You cannae keep us down here!”

“You misunderstand.” Schurker’s voice faded into the distance. “I can do whatever I want. Good-bye.”

They kept up their futile shouting as the guards replaced the covers one by one, cutting out all of their light but for a narrow sliver that fell hazily upon Jamie’s face. They kept on shouting for another minute or so, until, with a final creak of footsteps upon the hatch, the room above them was quiet.

Silence, but for the water gently lapping the edges of the well. “They’ve gone,” said Zoe, not quite believing it. Surely they wouldn’t just leave – not till they were sure? Something must have happened, she reasoned, to call them all away. That was good. That meant they had a chance to get out.

“Aye.” Jamie rubbed a hand across his face, wiping the water from his eyes. He sounded as befuddled as she felt. It had all happened so quickly. It seemed only moments before that they’d been bickering outside Schurker’s office.

A chance to get out; she had to think. She dismissed the idea of climbing the walls at once – too sheer, nothing to grip. The hatch was too high for them to reach even if she managed to climb on Jamie’s shoulders – and even if they could get up there, how would they get it open from beneath?

They couldn’t go up. She hadn’t seen any openings in the walls, when the hatch was open. Logically there must be a drain of some sort at the bottom, but she had no idea how deep it was, or how far they’d have to swim under water to get out that way. A high probability of drowning, but it might be their best option.

“What sort of fish d’you think he keeps down here, anyway?”

The question jolted her. She’d forgotten that he’d called it a fish tank, too preoccupied with thinking of escape routes and staying afloat in the freezing cold water. Schurker didn’t seem the type to bother with fanciful names. It was likely there was a literal fish in here somewhere. She looked desperately about the well, searching for clues. “Something big, I should think.”

“Mibbe we could climb out,” said Jamie in panicked tones. “Or mibbe –”

“Shh!” Zoe said. “Be quiet a moment.” For once he did as he was told, and fell silent. Zoe did her best to keep still, to not ripple the water, listening hard. Silence.

“I cannae heard anything,” Jamie whispered.

“Me neither,” said Zoe. “Maybe there’s nothing down here. It might just be a name.”

“Aye, or mibbe it already died and –” Jamie let out a shocked yelp – and he was gone. Dragged under, leaving barely a ripple upon the water to show that he’d been there.

“Jamie!” she screamed. Her heart pounded in her chest. “Jamie?” Breathlessly, she counted the beats – _one, two, three, four, five_. After about twenty, he re-surfaced as suddenly as he’d disappeared. “Jamie!”

“Oh, God,” he was saying between frantic breathes. “Oh, Mary Mother of God.”

“What is it?” Zoe said, panic colouring her voice.

“I dinnae ken, but it’s got some teeth on it.” Jamie’s own teeth were chattering. He was visibly shaking. She didn’t blame him, not for a moment. It had happened so fast – and for a few seconds she’d really thought – he must have thought – 

“Are you hurt?” She could feel hysteria rising in her chest. She did her best to squash it back down. She had to stay calm.

“I dinnae think so,” said Jamie. “It just grabbed me and let go.”

“Maybe it’s lost interest.” Zoe started intently at the water. It might as well have been opaque. She couldn’t see an inch below the surface.

“I dinnae think so,” said Jamie, sounding a little choked. “It’s still here.”

“How d’you know?” said Zoe.

“Cause I can feel it moving around.” She could hear him fighting to keep his voice steady. “It’s right underneath me. I can feel the water moving.”

“Don’t panic,” said Zoe, as much to herself as to Jamie.

“I’m nae panicking,” Jamie snapped. He yelped in alarm. “Oh, God. It touched me. I felt it touch me.”

“Stay calm,” said Zoe, still to herself.

“It’s toyin’ with us,” said Jamie. “What do I do? Zoe? _What do I do_?”

He must have been truly scared out of his wits, to ask her so directly – but the truth was, she didn’t have the slightest idea. There had to be a way out of this. She didn’t believe in impossible situations. “Maybe if you stay very still it’ll lost interest.”

“I cannae stay still. I’ll sink,” said Jamie anxiously. But he did his best not to move. Zoe tried to do the same, lest it go for her instead.

“It’s going for you first because you’re bigger,” she reasoned. “There’s more meat on you.” That made her dessert.  
“Not. Helping,” Jamie gritted out, struggling to stay afloat without moving.

“Is it still down there?” 

“Aye,” he said, breathless. “I think mibbe –” 

It grabbed him again.

He had time to swear loudly before he was gone, dragged down into suddenly foaming water. Zoe shrieked his name, barely containing her panic. What was she to _do_. Maybe it would let him go on its own, like it had before. But he wasn’t coming up.

The water was rolling like it was boiling, bubbles rising to the surface – that was a small relief, somewhere down there he was still breathing – rolling, and darkening.

In the thin sliver of light that lanced down from the hatch, a slice of dark, bubbling water was illuminated. Before her horrified eyes it was turning a muddy red.

Her mind raced, struggling to process what she was seeing, struggling to process that it might already be too late. What could she do. What could she _do_? Once it was finished with Jamie it would go for her, and the Doctor might never find out what had become of the, this miserable, bloody end in a dark pit, centuries out of their own time.

There was only one thing _to_ do. Taking a deep breath, she ducked her head under. The dirty water stung her eyes, but she kept them opening, fighting to swim downwards, fighting to see.

Her vision began to adjust to the shadowy, greenish light. She could make out a hazy, writhing shape that, as she swam lower, resolved itself into Jamie and the – the _thing_ , huge and blockish and indistinct. She could see jaws clamped about his leg, a lashing, shark-like tail. Kicking her legs desperately to stay under, she lashed out at it.

Her fist collided with thick, unyielding flesh and sluggishly rebounded. It made no difference. She might as well have been punching a wall. She struck it again, and again, and it barely seemed to notice.

But then, on her fourth punch miraculously it gave way. Her first sank into something soft and squishy that may have been an eyeball. She felt it jerk and twist, saw its jaws unclenching. It dropped out of sight like a stone as Jamie rushed upwards. Kicking her legs, she followed him, letting the water bear her towards the surface.

She surfaced a moment after Jamie. He was gasping out a prayer. “I dinnae ken what you did, but _thank_ you,” he said once he’d caught his breath.

“I think I punched it in the eye,” Zoe said. “You’re bleeding. You’re hurt. Are you hurt?”

“It’s nae that bad. It just had a hold of me leg.” He looked unnaturally pale, but that might have been more shock than blood loss. “I dare say it’ll be back for more soon.”

“I dare say,” said Zoe faintly.

“What do we do now?” said Jamie.

Zoe looked at the blood still pooling in the water, and considered her next move. She tilted her head back to the ceiling and screamed, “Help! Somebody help us! _Help_!”

“Och, that’s your clever plan, is it?” Jamie said scornfully. But he changed his tune quickly enough. She heard him yelp as the monster beneath the water brushed him, and a moment later he was yelling. “Help! Anybody!”

“Let us out! Please! _Help_!” She screamed until her throat was she – until she heard the creak of a footstep above. 

Jamie heard it too, and there was a breathless silence as they waited.

More footsteps, pattering closer, across the floor towards the hatch. A creak of a hinge, and a sudden shaft of light falling upon her face. “Zoe?” The Doctor blinked down at her in confusion. “What on earth are you doing under the floor?”

“Doctor?” cried Jamie.

“Get us out of here!” shouted Zoe.

“There’s something down here with us –” 

“– they just left us –” 

“– it’s got teeth like –” 

“– it’s trying to eat Jamie!” 

“Get us out!”

“ _Help_!”

“Oh, my word,” said the Doctor. “My goodness. One at a time!”

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “There’s something down here with us and it’s trying to eat Jamie,” she babbled, voice trembling.

She saw the Doctor’s eyes widen as he took in what she’d said. “Oh, my giddy aunt,” he said.

“Get us _out_ of here!” Zoe wailed.

“For the love of God!” Jamie yelled.

“Give me a moment, will you?” The Doctor let the hatch fall open and vanished from view.

“I might not _have_ a moment!” Jamie hollered after him.

The really was only gone a moment, but trapped in that pit, with whatever hideous thin lay under the surface for company, it felt like an age. At long last, he returned to the hatch and began to spool a rope – goodness knew where he’d got it – down into the pit. 

Zoe paddled desperately towards it. Once the end was in grabbing distance, she offered it to Jamie, but he shook his head. “You first?”

“Are you sure?” Now really wasn’t the time to come over all gentlemanly. The thing in the pit wanted Jamie and she didn’t think it was going to let up till it had him.

“Aye, I’ll boost you.”

There was no time to argue. She grabbed on to the rope and let him heave her upwards, supporting her as she found a grip with wet fingers. The gap between the water and the air above was bridged by their hands, Jamie and the Doctor; almost the moment one let go, the other was reaching down to pull her to safety.

The Doctor hauled her, shivering, onto the smoothly tiled floor, and called down to Jamie. “Come along, Jamie!”

“I’m coming,” he shouted back. Zoe pulled herself up, ready to help in any way she could.

Whatever monster lay in that fish tank wasn’t going to let Jamie go easily. Before he’d quite hauled himself out of the water, the rope went taut, and he _screamed_. “Jamie?” cried the Doctor in frantic tones.

“No, you don’t,” Jamie was saying as he struggled, still thigh-deep in the water. “No, you _don’t_.” He fought and twisted, heaving himself up towards the light. His feet left the water – and Zoe caught a glimpse of it, all knife-like teeth and rolling, bulging eyes. It didn’t look like a shark. It didn’t look like anything she’d seen before, or nothing living. What it resembled more than anything was an illustration she’d once seen of an ichthyosaur, with long, pointed jaws and reptilian teeth.

That, she supposed, answered a few questions about what Schurker was doing in his laboratories.

Something gave. The rope went slack. There was blood in the water and on its teeth. For a nauseating moment she thought it had Jamie’s foot off – but it was just his boot, clasped in its steely jaws as they slumped beneath that dark, lapping surface.

The Doctor clutched at Jamie, grabbing onto the back of his soggy jacket and heaving him out of the pit. “I’ve got you,” he was saying. “I’ve got you.”

Jamie sat upon the edge of the pit and wiped a hand across his eyes. “You can keep it,” he called down at the beast.

“Oh, my word,” said the Doctor. “Oh, you’re bleeding.” He whipped a handkerchief from his pocket and did his best to stem the bleeding.

“I thought it bit your foot off,” said Zoe, her voice shaking. Jamie’s leg wasn’t in a bad state, relatively speaking, but there were two sets of bleeding gashes where its teeth had clenched tight, and blood was already pooling on the white floor.

“It’s nae that bad,” said Jamie, but he was white-faced and shaking.

“Can you walk?” The Doctor squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

“Safe-ish,” Zoe amended.

“Yes, Zoe, thank you,” said the Doctor tartly. He pulled Jamie to his feet. “Come along. We ought to get out of here while they’re dealing with my little, ah, diversion.” Jamie sagged into him, leaning on him heavily. Zoe took his other side, looping his arm around her shoulders.

He turned to look at her, hair plastered to his grimy forehead – and to her surprise he smiled. “You punched it in the _eye_.”

“Yes, I did,” said Zoe, too numb with relief to be proud.

“Did you hear that, Doctor?” said Jamie as they guided him towards the door. “She punched it right in the eye.”

“Yes, I’m sure she was marvellous.” The Doctor patted Jamie’s shoulder.

“I feel dizzy,” said Jamie.

“I’m not surprised. You’ve lost a lot of blood. You ought to have stitches.” They reached the door and he glanced outside, checking that the coast was clear. “This way.”

“You punched it in the eye,” Jamie muttered half to himself as they snuck down the corridor beyond, leaving a grubby trail of blood and tank water in their wake.

“You can thank me properly later,” said Zoe. Jamie squeezed her shoulder, still smiling woozily to himself.

“Yes, you can thank Zoe, and then you can both explain to me what you’re doing _here_ ,” said the Doctor. “I’m quite certain I told you to wait at the compound.”

“We were looking for you!” Zoe protested.

“Aye, we were worried about you,” Jamie said.

“How were we supposed to know you’d already escaped?”

“Well, I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” the Doctor said. “Next time you can do as you’re told.”

“Of course,” said Zoe sweetly.

“Whatever you say, Doctor,” said Jamie.

“I can’t take you two anywhere,” said the Doctor, shaking his head. “You’re a liability.” He hefted Jamie’s arm more securely about his shoulders. “Come on, let’s get you fixed up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Now with [art](http://lostthecreativity.tumblr.com/post/130242046399/she-could-see-jaws-clamped-about-his-leg-a) by [lostthehat](lostthehat.tumblr.com)!


End file.
